Checking in with Our Team

By: David Smyth, May 1, 2020

In recent weeks, we've been talking about some of the things you, our friends and clients, have been doing to keep connected during quarantine. We also shared Senior Partner David Smyth's ideas for dating in captivity, and of course he's also enjoying lots of projects with his three boys. Today, we wanted to check in on some of our other team members and how they've been spending their time at home.

We'll start with Ryan Petrunyak, Operations Assistant and Paraplanner, who wins the cuteness factor with Rosie, the golden retriever puppy he, along with his girlfriend, Katie, decided to adopt while they had extra time at home during quarantine.

The rest of the team may not be adopting new puppies, but there's lots of family time enjoying movies and games, finding good books to read, home organization and getting outside on nice weather days going on.

Client Services Director McKellar Ciurlizza reports that she's taking lots of walks with her boys, who are 4 and 1, along with redoing a lot of the childproofing in the house now that 1-year-old can open drawers! She and her husband, Jorge, are (finally) watching The Wire, and are enjoying The Last Dance documentary about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls.

Client Relations Director Katie Gruver and her husband, Eli, went so far as to switch which rooms in their home serve as office and bedroom, and reorganized it all from top to bottom. She is also enjoying The Friendship Factor, a book by one of her favorite authors, Alan Loy McGinnis.

Operations Director Greg Wright has been playing everything from Battleship to dominoes with his two kids. He and wife Stephanie are also spending time as a family reading and running, and watching soccer training videos. They've been playing card and board games, created a patio and garden area (pictured), and updated their family to-do list. Believe it or not, they do watch TV amid all that productivity, and have been enjoying Lost, About a Boy, This is Us, and How I Met Your Mother!

Executive Writer Rebekah Sellers reports that she finally hung all the art that hadn't been unpacked since she moved more than a year ago. She's trying out all kinds of new recipes now that going out isn't an option. She also read and highly recommends Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and just started The Plague by Albert Camus, a decision she may regret.

To leave you on a positive note, Greg Wright compiled this list to remind us all of the things that have not been cancelled during the shutdown:

Sunrises

Reading

Family

Love

Music

Singing

Laughing

Hope

Sunsets

We hope you are continuing to find ways to connect with family and friends, stay busy and keep your mind and body healthy.